Kickin' it with Kit
by LesterWanted
Summary: So many of you fell in love with Kit, so here he is! A strong Steph story that's not friendly to Morelli or Frank and Helen. Now an Ex-Army Ranger, Stephanie has found herself working as a ER Nurse back in her home town. After patching up a rodeo cowboy, he haunts her dreams. Will Steph ever find her cowboy to ride off into the sunset with?
1. Chapter 1

Kicking it with Kit

Chapter 1

Going Home

I left the box of uniforms on the bed, and hoisted my duffel over my shoulder. I was done, finally and officially done. I had signed the papers, shook the necessary hands, and saluted for the last official time. The boys that knew I was leaving had showed up as I was finishing up packing and given me hugs. I had heard a lot of "Sorry to see you go Needle" and "Don't think this means we don't get to see you around sexy." I loved my boys, we had become family over the years. I don't know what it is about working with a team that has your back, even if it's just breakups or guys bothering you in a bar. But it creates a family atmosphere the likes of which I hadn't experienced before this. I worked with such a select group over the past 4 years that we had developed that bond.

I guess I should back up a little bit. My name is Stephanie Michelle Plum, nicknamed Needle, and my days in the ARMY Rangers are done. Yeah, yeah I know what you are thinking a female Ranger? No way... Yes way I was one of the best medics this place had ever seen, second only to the legendary Brown. I was normally sent out with the 2nd best team in the country, as Bobby Brown took care of the "Big Guns" as we liked to call them. I had fallen in love with the ARMY and serving our country, especially when they paid for my tuition to medical school. I had done my service and time, and now it was time to go home.

When I reached my new truck, my guys were there. Buck, brothers Hawk and Talon, Screech, Zip, Dutch, Mack, and Bo. I had served with this group of guys, and they were my family. I allowed myself to draw some flashbacks from my memory. Hawk teaching me to shoot his sniper rifle at his home in Georgia on leave. Bo and I racing across the open desert of Nevada at his family ranch. Zip taking me out dancing in Miami at his Sister's club. Talon taking me bow hunting in Georgia, and helping me bring down my first buck. Attending Screech's wedding to his wife Amanda, and watching as Screech brought out his first born son to the waiting room. Finding out Mack and Dutch were partners, not only in our team but in life, and sharing their ceremony on the beach in California. These were things that brought me closer to each of these wonderful men that I had served our country with. I was closer to them than I was my own sister. Hell than I was with any of my family. The only person I considered myself closer with was my best friend Melanie. I spent every spare moment and summer on her ranch learning to ride horses and later barrel racing at all the local rodeos.

Snapping out of whatever trance my flashback had put me in I threw my duffel into the back seat of my new truck. A black and chrome 2014 Ford F-350. I'd picked it out when I had finally put my old Mustang in storage. So of course, being a country cowgirl at heart, I picked out a jacked up, leather interior, fully loaded diesel 4x4 truck. Who could blame me, I loved this damn truck.

I turned to my boys giving them each our own special greeting, before kissing them on the cheek. With that, Bo settled a cooler full of snacks and drinks in the back seat. I jumped in my truck rolled down the window and waved as they all drove away.

I sat back against the cool leather seat with my hands on the wheel as I took a deep breath before pulling out to head towards the highway. I was headed home for the 1st time in over 6 years.

As I drove I allowed my mind to wander. I had applied and received a position as an ER Certified Nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Trenton, NJ where I grew up. I still wasn't sure the exact reason I was going home. It could have been a desire to reconnect with my family, although I'm almost 100% positive that was not going to happen. The more likely reason was to become fast friend with my best friend Melanie once again. We had stayed connect through facebook and by writing back and forth. She had been my connection to my hometown and the people I once thought I knew. It seemed my mother had all but shunned me, never talking about her "other daughter" and instead focusing on my sister St. Valerie. Valerie was always the perfect little "Burg" clone of my mother.

I grew up in a little suburb called Chambersburg. The houses were all identical, little duplexes with small but very upright designs. Living room, kitchen, laundry and dining room on the bottom floor, 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom on the top floor. The windows are always clean, gossip is always shared between cleaning and making lunch and dinner is always on the table at 6pm sharp. Girls marry young and have babies shortly after, divorce is equal to murder and everyone is always more concerned about how it makes you look not how it makes you feel.

Now St. Valerie was always the perfect one, could cook in the kitchen with my mother, while I always burned water. She was a talented ballerina, while I could never remember a routine. She aced Home-Ec, while I was 'forced' to take shop class for fear of burning down the building (the joke was on my mother and the school, I loved shop class!).

I had called Melanie that morning letting her know that I was heading home. I would stay at her ranch while I looked for an apartment about half way between the ranch and work. I already knew that I now controlled my life that I would jump immediately back into riding and barrel racing, possibly even learn to rope. I had lived for the freedom of racing across the pasture or arena. The strength of team it took to make you competitive. It wasn't just sitting there and letting the horse do the work. There was a give and take involved in an intricate team dynamic. Perhaps that's why I loved what I did in the Army. It allowed me to care for that team dynamic, and each individual team member. Don't get me wrong I loved the adrenaline, the hunt, the knowledge that I was doing something to help all the innocents back home. But most of all I loved helping others, being a medic let me do that. Being an ER Nurse would also allow me to do that.

I was pulled out of my head when the GPS rang out, alerting me that my exit for my hotel was coming up. I shook my head and pulled off, heading towards KFC for a quick pick up dinner before I checked in. KFC coleslaw was my weakness, just the right amount of sweet and spice, with plenty of crunch and sauce!I may not have been born in the South, but by spending most of my last 6 years of leave down there, I had fallen in love with the cooking! I could only hope my workouts and metabolism could keep up!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **All characters, places and themes you recognize, are not mine. I have taken them and tweaked them to my liking and story line.

**AN: **Hope you guys enjoyed! This chapter is a little dark. No Helen love from me!

**Chapter 2 **

**Childhood Memories**

**SPOV**

I woke up before my alarm, stupid Army training. I knew it would be awhile before my body transitioned back to normal civilian life. . . Oh wait, it never would. Being an ER nurse has about the worst hours a civilian could ask for. So I may move off of my early morning early nights routine, but would develop the most out of whack schedule one could ask for. Oh the joys!

I went down to the hotel gym to work out some of the excess energy i had accumulated by sitting in a truck all day and not working out. I plugged myself into my Ipod and hopped on the never ending belt to lose myself in my childhood memories.

Ever since I could remember I had never been good enough, not for my mother at least. That was always Valerie's place, at her side in the kitchen, while I got exiled to the back yard. When I got older I no longer bothered trying to fit into her perfect mold, I knew I never would. I spent more time at my friends house than I did at my own, it always felt like they were more my family than my own anyways. Melanie's family had always encouraged me, in the horse arena and out of it. They were a total horse family, it's how her parents had met.

The more time I spent with her family and away from my own, the more my own mother shunned me. Grandma and Grandpa Mazur were not around much, always off on their senior trips and cruises. So they never saw how my mother treated me. Valerie had grown up watching our mother ignore me and place unfair restrictions and expectations on me, so she soon began to do the same. Valerie was popular in high school, while was I was still in Jr. High it never had much impact. But that all changed when I hit High School.

All Valerie's friends teased me and did awful things to me. It didn't matter that I had my own arch nemesis, who was already trying to paint me as a slut, now I had a whole group of Juniors doing the same thing. It all happened because my so called sister had told everyone that Mother had caught Joe Morelli up my skirt when I was 8 and he was 11. Joe, a senior, had jumped on the band wagon, telling everyone that I had liked it. Things only got worse that year, all the girls had crushes on Joe Morelli, and Joe was a little man whore. Slept with anything that would open their legs for him, I was bound and determined not to be one of those girls. I found used condoms and photoshopped pictures in my locker. Anything they could to embarrass me and paint me as a slut. I couldn't believe my own sister was the one orchestrating this.

I ignored everyone the best I could, sticking to what few friends I had. Which turned out to only be Melanie, she was the only one who continuously stuck up for me, and helped clean me up after my makeup had run down my face from the tears, that I hated to let fall. I had tried to tell my mother and father about the bullying, but she had just told me that if I was more like the other girls then they wouldn't bully me. I tried to argue, saying that Joe Morelli had slept with every girl in the top 3 grades. My father had continued eating his lunch quietly, but my mother, she had whipped around, pointing her wooden spoon at me and yelled at me. "You listen here young lady, that young Joseph Morelli is a fine young man. He had been here multiple times with Val when they were dating, and now he is dating that very pretty Gillman girl. His family is 'Burg, Angela Morelli and I are on the PTA and HOA board together. Their family is well respected in the 'Burg. How dare you accuse him of such horrible things. You're the little slut, opening your legs for him when you were only 8." By this time, tears were streaming down my face at the hate my mother had directed my way. "Quit crying you little brat, you know it's the truth. Now I'm sure you deserve whatever they are saying about you. If only you would grow up and be more like your sister. Honestly Stephanie." With that she had turned back around, I looked to my father for help, only to find him staring at his plate without a word.

I fled to my room, packing for a few days, and called Melanie and told her what happened. Her parents told me I was welcome in their house, until things settled down at home. I knew neither my mother or father would take me, and mother would kill me if she knew I told anyone what just happened. After all this was the 'Burg, everyone had secrets, but no one aired their dirty laundry in public.

It was the middle of the night when I tossed my duffel bag out the window of my second story window. I quickly followed my bag, but something happened, I didn't get out the window like I should have. I quickly turned around, my mother had grabbed me. The malice in her eyes froze me in place. "You ungrateful little bitch, how dare you try to leave this house. Probably going to that awful Melanie's aren't you." I tried running, I got around her and to the top of the stairs before she grabbed my arm.

"You aren't going anywhere you little brat, and I'll make sure you never tell anyone about this." She let go of one of my arms and slapped my full across the face. The force of her blow whipped my head around, and I pulled out of my Mother's grasp, only to fall down the stairs behind me. I heard the tell tale 'snap' of one of the bones in my arm breaking when I tried to catch myself. I cradled that arm on the way down, and had no ability to break my fall at the bottom. I crashed down the steps, hitting my head on the wall. I stood up unsteadily, but moving towards the door. I had to get out of there. I could vaguely hear my mother screaming in the background, through the ringing in my ears. I shook my head trying to get the stars out of my vision and ran for the front door. I made it out the door and across the lawn to my bag before bolting to the garage where my bike was. I swung the bag over my head and pushed the bike as fast as it would go towards the little road behind our house. I pedaled as fast as I could until I knew I was out of sight and reach of my horrible mother.

I cut across town towards Melanie's. I could only steer with one hand, the other arm was cradled to my chest and starting to throb. We had learned in Health class last week, how adrenaline sometimes blocked your brains pain receptors. I knew I was experiencing that now, my adrenaline was letting down and now my pain receptors could receive all the messages from my arm and head. I could feel blood running down the side of my face from where I had hit against the wall.

I pushed myself all the way to Melanie's, no matter the pain or how tired I was, no matter how much I wanted to stop. I made it to the ranch house up the long winding drive and barely managed to press the doorbell, before the darkness took over.

Opposed to the darkness, I woke up to blinding white light. My left arm was heavy, like it was covered in something. Looking down it had been covered in a bright blue cast, guess my break assumption had been correct last night. I could feel something wrapped around my head, I guess I got stitches too, great. Mother was just going to love this, I was ruining her life again.

I had fallen in love with the nurses who looked after me. I asked question after question about their job, and how they liked it. They brought in the nurse that had taken care of me when I was brought into the ER by David and Kathy Buchanan, Melanie's parents. She told me about my break and the concussion and then I asked her a million and one questions. I had fallen in love with becoming a nurse then. I knew what I wanted to do for my future. Now I just needed to find way to do it.

I unfortunately had to go back to my parents house, the Buchanans couldn't keep me forever. I spent all the time in my room, trying not to rock the boat or make waves. I did my chores as directed and only showed up for food. Beyond that I was at Melanie's whenever I could and hid in my room from my family when I couldn't.

I wiped the tears from my face and powered down the treadmill. REliving childhood memories where often the worst. Even with all the nightmares I still had from missions. I had gone through, and was still going through extensive counseling to help get over it. I could only hope that I would not need to see my family much as we all tried to live in the same town.

**AN: **Hope y'all don't mind the dark element of her background. I needed some way to make her who she is later in the story. Please leave some reviews!


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